There are three stages of a man's life: He believes in Santa Claus, he doesn't believe in Santa Claus, he is Santa Claus

Tuesday, 6 January 2009

Gazza: The sad clown

I swayed back and forth while watching this documentary last night. I didnt know what I felt for this once extremely gifted footballer. When I first seriously got into football at age ten or eleven, Gazza had just joined Rangers. I never really got into the whole your Irish and Catholic its your duty to follow Celtic bullshit. I thought Scottish football was shite(I still do), and never paid too much attention to it. The first time, I got to see Gazza in action properly was Euro 96.

The thing that stands out for everyone in that tournament is McCallister missing a penalty and 40 seconds later Gazza scoring a wonderful goal, flicking the ball over Hendrys head and burying it past Goram. I was only 7 when Italia 90 was on and dont remember much about it, apart from the nation standing still to watch Ireland.

My first memory of footballers making the front pages instead of the back was just before Euro 96. The England squad had been off in Spain or somewhere on a training camp and had been given a night off. They decided sensibly to go straight into a tourist area and get plastered. Gazza and Teddy Sheringham were pictured having shots thrown down there throats while sitting back in a dentists chair. The papers made a big fuss of it at the time and the nation werent impressed. That footballs coming home tune was number 1 in the charts at the time and the english public really did think they had a chance until, the PENOS!

Two years later, Three lions song was released again. It had a new line "Gazza good as before", Glenn Hoddle didnt agree and he didnt make the final squad for the 98 World Cup. It was the beginning of the end for Gazza after that. He had been pictured the week before the squad was announced pissed out of his brain in a kebab shop and wondered why he was left out. It seems ten years on and nothing has changed. He appears his own worst enemy and beyond redemption. He chain smokes, is an alcholic and is a disgrace to anyone who ever played football at any level. A man whose best mate is Jimmy five bellies, who Gazza employed as his minder when he went to Lazio. What the locals must have thought of those two.

Gazza has attacked his wife about letting Channel four interview there 12 year old. When Gazza was in the house all the family seemed happy he was there but he couldnt handle it. He disappeared and went on a bender as his ex-wife wouldnt let him in her bed only for the papers to eventually find him of all places on tour with Iron Maiden. Channel four isnt innocent in all this, this show could easily have been title Gazzas last days if things had gone wrong for Gazza not wrong for Channel four. His wife obviously got a few quid for it, his step daughter will probably have her tits out in some mag this week but there was no show without Paul and he turned up and cant blame anyone but himself for the mess his life is.

2 comments:

I only saw the end of it, where they went to Portugal to find him. I just found it all incredibly sad - especially for the young lad.

My Hubby felt the same as you - that it was all a bit staged and that they took advantage of his illness for the sake of 'good tv'. My brother was reading his biography at Christmas. Might go and get myself a copy now. Great blog BTW.

Yeah that was totally ridiculous at the end. Obviously they needed to have more than 10 minutes of him on camera for the show and probably pressured the family into a so called intervention in Portugal.

And yes definately the most deplorable event of this event was asking his twelve year old son how he felt about his father. He obviously has very few happy family memories that involve his father but he did seem genuinely happy at the start of the documentary when they were camping together in the garden.

His step son and daughter obviously have happier memories, when the man still had a bit of magic about him. Bianca stating that during Euro 96 was the happiest time of her life and it was probably her fathers too.